Finsbury Park mosque attack: 'We were expecting something to happen’, says anti-Islamophobia group Tell Mama

Watchdog told of 'spike' in anti-Muslim incidents after terrorist attacks

Police talk to local people at Finsbury Park after the attack (PA Wire/PA Images)

A watch group for anti-Muslim incidents said it was “expecting something to happen” after one man has been killed and seven injured in an attack against Finsbury Park mosque.

Hours after a man drove a van into a crowd of Muslims exiting the North London mosque on Saturday night, Tell Mama UK told Radio 4 that anti-Muslim sentiment has been on the rise in recent weeks and the group anticipated an attack.

The injured have been taken to hospital and a 48-year-old suspect has been arrested.

Tell Mama founder Fiyaz Mughal said he had been at the mosque on Seven Sisters Road the previous evening, urging a group of around 50 local Muslims to report any anti-Muslim incidents.

“The sad reality is that I was on this mosque on Friday myself explaining to 50 Muslims in that very area to say to the congregation, 'Please report anti-Muslim hatred'. We’re not getting much stuff in,” he said.

He said he was also concerned about the lack of security measures around the building, and that congregations leaving prayers were not advised the safe way to enter and exit the mosque.

“Sadly we were expecting something to happen,” said Mr Mughal.

He continued: “The way it works is pretty much there are very large spikes or spikes, we call them measurable spikes, after major terrorist incidences, so Islamist extremist incidences create the largest spikes we see.

”We saw that very clearly after Manchester, a very high peak, we saw that clearly after London Bridge, we didn't see it after Westminster.

“So the answer to that is yes, these peaks of anti-Muslim hate incidences reported in do go up in very high numbers after terrorist incidences."

The attack comes shortly after three radical Islamic extremists ploughed a rental van into pedestrians near London Bridge before exiting the vehicle and randomly stabbing people in bars and restaurants. They killed eight people and injured 47.

In May, 22 people were killed in an explosion at an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena. The attack was carried out by extremist Salman Abedi, who killed himself when he detonated the bomb.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan denounced the mosque attack as “an assault on all our shared values of tolerance, freedom and respect”.

Theresa May confirmed the attack was being treated as a potential terror incident, and the remark was also confirmed by home secretary Amber Rudd.

The Metropolitan Police said the eight injured people were taken to three separate hospitals, and two people were treated at the scene just after midnight for minor injuries.